Ashley Madison Hack Victims Must Use Their Real Names to Sue

A judge sorting through the wreckage of the Ashley Madison car crash has somehow managed to make things even worse for victims of the hack -- ruling that any legal recourse against the site must be carried out under the real names of the users.

Hence, if you were hacked, you now have to publicly admit to being a member of the anonymous dating site in order to sue the site's owners for breaching their security obligations in letting the hack happen.

The case involves a group claim by 42 former members of the site, whose grievances include it not being secure enough, the admins failing to deliver on promises to fully delete unwanted accounts, and allegedly populating the site with fake female users to make the tawdry business seem more appealing to ravenous men.

The judge admitted that forcing claimants to reveal their identities would cause personal damage "...above the level of mere embarrassment or harm to reputation," but says that as they signed up voluntarily it's their fault -- and there's a public interest in the trial and its outcome. If all 42 drop out the judge may revisit his decision, though, so there's hope yet for the anonymous shaggers to save some face. [CNN via Guardian]